Beautiful city of Los Angeles California and its magnificent and historic surrounding landmarks, from Hollywood to Griffith Park, Santa Monica, Disneyland, etc. Just like any other major city in the world Los Angeles has its share of problems, only this time, L.A. and surroundings are facing a crisis of homelessness.

In 2015 Los Angeles topped nation in chronic homeless population. By the end of 2016 the LA County's homeless count stood at 47,000. In 2017, street encampments are still on the rise from Malibu to San Pedro. Unsheltered homeless people are living on sidewalks, in cars, campers, tents and lean-tos.

Since 2014, Los Angeles has been the "home" of many developers from many parts of the world, i.e. China, Japan, Canada, just to mention a few, and there has been about 106 downtown renovation and/or construction projects altogether. Out of all 106 DTLA development projects none have been designed or built to help low income families or to provide temporary or permanent shelter to the unsheltered homeless population. Furthermore, the city is planning to enforce a new ban on living in vehicles near parks, homes and schools. This new ban could add more stress and problems for the streets of Los Angeles and surroundings.

It is obvious that this crisis could not be solved over night and while long term solutions are in the works (The Welcome Home Project, Coordinated Entry System, Proposition HHH), I think that a good temporary or even permanent solution to help our vulnerable homeless population in the meantime would be to urge the Mayor of Los Angeles to allow the construction of "transitional housing campgrounds" on city owned property. These campgrounds don't have to be in DTLA, perhaps near an industrial zone or anywhere that is safe and with enough room to house as may unsheltered people as possible. A project similar to Portland's Dignity Village could tremendously benefit our beautiful L.A. streets and surroundings.

Dignity Village's Mission & Values are:

"We seek to create a green, sustainable urban Village for those who are seeking shelter but are unable to find it. We feel it’s necessary to establish a community-based living facility where people living on the streets can have their basic needs met in a stable, sanitary environment free from violence, theft, disruption of peace, and drugs and alcohol." https://dignityvillage.org/about-2/mission-values/

Please sign my petition if you agree that L.A. needs its very own "Dignity Village". Shelter should be a human right, not a luxury.